Leakproof head for hand sprayer

ABSTRACT

A hand-operated liquid sprayer attached to a liquid container is provided with a hand rotatable screw collar which can be screwed up or down to open or close an atmospheric vent passage to the container and thus to prevent liquid leakage from the container through the vent when the vent passage is closed regardless of the attitude of the container, and, to allow atmospheric venting of the container&#39;&#39;s interior when the vent passage is open.

United States Patent [1 1 Powers LEAKPROOF HEAD FOR HAND SPRAYER [75]inventor: Richard T. Powers, Cincinnati, Ohio [73] Assignee: The AFACorporation of Florida,

Miami Lakes, Fla.

[22] Filed: Jan. 30,1973

[21] Appl. No.: 327,968

[52] US. Cl. 239/333, 239/347 [51] Int. Cl B65d 83/14 [58] Field ofSearch 239/333, 347, 355;

. [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,556,050 6/1951 Ziherl239/333 X Dec. 25, 1973 3,685,739 8/1972 Vanier 239/333 PrimaryExaminer-M. Henson Wood, Jr. Assistant Examiner-Andres KashnikowAttorney-William R. Wright, Jr.

[5 7] ABSTRACT A hand-operated liquid sprayer attached to a liquidcontainer is provided with a hand rotatable screw collar which can bescrewed up or down to open or close an atmospheric vent passage to thecontainer and thus to prevent liquid leakage from the container throughthe vent when the vent passage is closed regardless of the attitude ofthe container, and, to allow atmospheric venting of the containersinterior when the vent passage is open.

8 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure LEAKPROOF HEAD FOR HAND SPRAYER BACKGROUND,UTILITY, AND OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION A problem associated with handsprayers for liquid such as the type disclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,061,202to Tyler is to keep liquid from leaking from the associated containerduring shipment or during periods when the user might wish to lay thesprayer container down or to carry it from job to job. The sprayer isusually provided with at least one internal check valve which preventsleakage of liquid out of the spray nozzle itself but the problem arisesfrom the necessity for a vent from the interior of the container to theatmosphere in order to allow air to enter it as liquid is drawn from itup and through the sprayer and thus to prevent either collapse of thecontainer or a cessation of the liquid flow, both of which areundesirable. If, however, a plain vent hole along is provided liquid canleak out through it when the container is laid on its side or inverted.The present invention solves this problem by providing a vent passageseal which may be easily opened or closed as desired and whicheffectively prevents leakage of liquid in a positive manner.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a ventand seal combination which is easily, quickly, conveniently andpositively closed or opened and which provides a liquid-tight seal whenin the closed position and allows the passage of atmospheric air intothe container when in the opened position.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a vent and sealcombination wherein the seal will not open inadvertently in nromal use.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a vent seal ofthe foregoing type which is easily, quickly and inexpensivelymanufactured and lends itself to large quantity production.

Other objects advantages of the present invention will be apparent fromthe detailed description and drawing which follow. In the drawing:

The FIGURE is a cross section view of the sprayer and vent seal attachedto a container and with the seal in the opened position.

DESCRIPTION AND OPERATION OF THE INVENTION As will be seen in the singlefigure of the drawing, a hand sprayer is attached to the top of acontainer 11 by means ofa screw cap 12 with annular flange 13 between itand the annular rim 14 of the container, and, when cap 12 is handtightened in place with gasket 13a between flange 13 and rim 14, aliquid-tight seal is created about the rim. Extended upwardly fromflange 13 and integral with it is a hollow cylindrical sleeve or neck 15which is stepped on its exterior at annular shoulder 16 and terminatesin an upward portion 15a of reduced external diameter above shoulder 16and where it attaches to the sprayer 10. Shoulder 16 is provided with anannular vee-shaped slant-sided open groove 16a formed in its upper facein the manner shown and at least one vent passage 17 is provided downthrough shoulder 16 to afford communication between groove 16a and thehollow interior 15b of the body 15 which in turn is in communicationwith the interior of container 11 through a central opening 13b ingasket 13 a.

As will be seen in the drawings, sleeve or neck 15 is threaded and isfitted with a cooperating threaded screw collar 18 which can be screwedup or down thereon by hand and is provided with flats or a roughenedsurface portion on its exterior to provide for a good finger grip. Aboutthe upper edge of collar 18 is an annular ridge or rim 18a which extendsdownwardly and which is aligned with groove 16 and is dimensioned thatit can enter groove 16 but with an interference fit with the slantedannular sides so that it will create contact throughout theirperipheries and wedge in the annular groove. Rim 18a is preferablyvee-shaped in cross section but could be rectangular rounded on the likeas desired provided that peripheral contact is made with both slantedsides of groove 16. These parts are made of slightly resilientpolypropylene or a like material so that as they contact each other aliquid tight seal is created about their line of contact because of thesemi-resiliency of the material and the pressure exerted by the screwaction and also, so that the screw threads will seal upon one another ascollar 18 becomes seated in rim 18a.

The sprayer 10 itself includes a spray nozzle 19 having a spring-loadedcheck valve 20 and an outer outletscrew cover 21 which can be screwed inor out on nozzle 19 to change the extent of the opening and is capableof closing it completely as desired when screwed down to the full extentof its travel as shown in the drawing. A passage 22 communicablyconnects nozzle 19 with pump chamber 23 in which is located springloadedplunger 24 which in turn is longitudinally movable in chamber 23 bymanipulation of pump lever 25. Chamber 23 is communicably connectedthrough passage 26 to the chamber 27 surrounding normally-open checkvalve 28 from which communication is afforded to liquid pickup tube 29when the valve 28 is open.

The sprayer 10 is operated by grasping the sprayer in one hand andsqueezing lever 25 to move piston 24 inwardly thereby compressing theair in pump chamber 23 and forcing it to flow past nozzle check valve 20and out into the atmosphere. Lever 25 is then allowed to return to itsnormal position under the urging of spring 30 which allows plunger 24 toretract and causes both check valves 20, 28 to close because of thereduced air pressure in chamber 23, spring 30 being of sufficientstrength to overcome the air pressure differential on plunger 24 inaddition to the fact that the projected area over which the pressure inchamber 23 acts on plunger 24 is greater than that acting on itsexterior area which produces a resultant force in the same direction asthe force of the spring 30. Since chamber 23 is in communication withthe surface of the liquid in container 11, a pressure unbalance betweenit and the atmospheric pressure acting upon the liquids surface otherthan in the pickup tube 29 forces liquid up the tube and into chamber21, the atmospheric air entering through vent passage 17 in neck 15.Without this vent, no air can enter the space in container 11 above theliquid and as the liquid level lowers as liquid is used the internal airpressure will decrease below atmospheric on the exterior of container 11 resulting in malfunction of the sprayer and possible collapse ordeformation of Y the container 11.

When it is desired that the container 11 be sealed off with no leakageas would be the case during shipment with liquid in the container andwith nozzle 17 tightly closed, collar 18 is grasped by the fingers andis screwed downward on neck until tight contact is made between rim 18aand groove 16 about their entire peripheries. This forms a liquid-tightseal as mentioned in the foregoing paragraph and prevents the passage ofliquid out of container 1 1 by blocking the exit path of vent passage17. Thereafter, when the sprayer is to be put in use, collar 18 isscrewed upward in the reverse direction of rotation and rim 18a islifted off its seat in groove 16 thus exposing passage 17 to theatmosphere and allowing air to enter the container 11 freely as neededto maintain the normal pressure balance on the liquid as it is drawnfrom the container during a spraying operation. It should be noted thatafter collar 18 is hand tightened in place in the sealed position withthe vent passage 17 blocked, collar 18 is not likely to loosen undernormal conditions encountered during shipment or storage, particularlyin view of the semiresilient qualities of its material and that of neck15.

it is to be understood that the form of the invention herewith shown anddescribed is to be taken as a preferred embodiment of the same and thatvarious changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may berestored to without departure from the spirit of the invention or thescope of the subjoined claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination, a spray nozzle, hand operated pump means connectedthereto and in communication therewith, a neck communicably connectingsaid pump means and the interior of a liquid container, liquid pickupmeans communicably connected therebetween and extended below the levelofliquid contained in the container, closure means for said container,an annular shoulder on said neck having an annular open groove in itsupper face, a vent passage through said shoulder in communication withthe open groove and the interior of the container, a screw collarthreadably engaged with said neck and capable of being screwed up anddown thereon, an annular rim on said collar extended toward and alignedwith said open groove and so located with respect to it that as thecollar is screwed toward the groove the rim will enter the groove andcontact it in a liquid-tight manner to close the vent passage to anyflow of liquid, whereby leakage of liquid from the container isprevented.

2. The invention set forth in claim 1 with the annular groove vee-shapedin cross section with sla 'nted annular sides and adapted to interceptthe rim of the collar as it is screwed toward the container.

3. The invention set forth in claim 1 with the annular rim and theannular groove both vee-shaped in cross section with slanted sidesadapted to contact one another as the collar is screwed toward thecontainer.

4. The invention set forth in claim 1 with the annular rim rectangularin cross section.

5. The invention set forth in claim 1 with the closure means comprisinga screw cap through which said neck is extended and which intercepts anannular flange on the neck with the flange abutting the rim of ascrewthreaded opening in the container upon which the cap is screwed,whereby the flange is clamped between the cap and the container openingrim to effect a liquidtight seal between the flange and the rim.

6. The invention set forth in claim 5 with an annular gasket between therim of the opening and the flange.

7. The invention set forth in claim 1 with flats on the exterior of atleast a portion of the collar to facilitate screwing thereof by hand.

8. The invention set forth in claim 1 with a roughened surface on atleast part of said collar to facilitate screwing thereof by hand.

UNITED STATES, PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No.3,780,951 Dated December 25, 1973 Inventor(s) Richard T. Powers It iscertified that error appears in the above-identified patent and thatsaid Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 1, line 19, change "along" to alone line 34, change "nromal" tonormal line 39, after "objects" insert and Column 4, (Claim 3) line 15,after "slanted" insert annular Signed and sealed this 23rd day ofJuly1974.

(SEAL) Attest:

McCOY M. GIBSON, JR. C. MARSHALL DANN Attesting Officer- Commissioner ofPatents USCOMM-DC 603764 69 U. 5. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: "II0-366-31.

FORM PO-IOSO (10-69)

1. In combination, a spray nozzle, hand operated pump means connectedthereto and in communication therewith, a neck communicably connectingsaid pump means and the interior of a liquid container, liquid pickupmeans communicably connected therebetween and extended below the levelof liquid contained in the container, closure means for said container,an annular shoulder on said neck having an annular open groove in itsupper face, a vent passage through said shoulder in communication withthe open groove and the interior of the container, a screw collarthreadably engaged with said neck and capable of being screwed up anddown thereon, an annular rim on said collar extended toward and alignedwith said open groove and so located with respect to it that as thecollar is screwed toward the groove the rim will enter the groove andcontact it in a liquid-tight manner to close the vent passage to anyflow of liquid, whereby leakage of liquid from the container isprevented.
 2. The invention set forth in claim 1 with the annular groovevee-shaped in cross section with slanted annular sides and adapted tointercept the rim of the collar as it is screwed toward the container.3. The invention set forth in claim 1 with the annular rim and theannular groove both vee-shaped in cross section with slanted sidesadapted to contact one another as the collar is screwed toward thecontainer.
 4. The invention set forth in claim 1 with the annular rimrectangular in cross section.
 5. The invention set forth in claim 1 withthe closure means comprising a screw cap through which said neck isextended and which intercepts an annular flange on the neck with theflange abutting the rim of a screw-threaded opening in the containerupon which the cap is screwed, whereby the flange is clamped between thecap and the container opening rim to effect a liquid-tight seal betweenthe flange and the rim.
 6. The invention set forth in claim 5 with anannular gasket between the rim of the opening and the flange.
 7. Theinvention set forth in claim 1 with flats on the exterior of at least aportion of the collar to facilitate screwing thereof by hand.
 8. Theinvention set forth in claim 1 with a roughened surface on at least partof said collar to facilitate screwing thereof by hand.